Ashkenazy Observed

Documentary about Soviet-born pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Beethoven's Symphony

After constantly moving, two students finally find the opportunity to start a family by adopting a stray dog.

Karel Svoboda: Šťastná léta

Cole Porter in Hollywood: Begin the Beguine

An overview of Cole Porter’s musical contributions to the film Broadway Melody of 1940.

Great Russian Composers

These biographical drama documentaries explore the lives and careers of Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov and Chaliapin.

She Chef

We’re travelling from luxury kitchen to luxury kitchen with Agnes, from Bergisch Gladbach via Barcelona to the Faroe Islands. The cook’s luggage always includes her backpack containing various knives, cleavers and tweezers. The camera watches over the inquisitive young woman’s shoulder as delicacies are being prepared. Our mouths water. At the same time, we get insights into the different ways of running a restaurant. It’s about team spirit and equality at the stove.

The Art of Conducting: Great Conductors of the Past

Documentary about sixteen great conductors of the 20th century.

What the World Needs Now: Words by Hal David

Hosted by Bette Midler, enjoy a musical tribute to the man who wrote some of the most enduring songs in American popular music. Lyricist Hal David and composer Burt Bacharach dominated the pop-music charts in the 1960s and early ’70s, crafting dozens of timeless Top 40 hits.

Bach & Friends

A two hour documentary on Johann Sebastian Bach. World-class musicians share their innermost thoughts and personal reflections on the power and genius of the most influential composer in history.

Facing the Music

Anne Boyd, one of Australia's leading contemporary composers, teaches music at the publicly funded University of Sydney. This documentary chronicles a year in the life of an academic department that's under the financial gun.

Everything you wanted to know about conductors but were afraid to ask

Documentary about the state of the conducting world in the 1990s. Broadcast as part of the BBC OMNIBUS strand of documentaries.

Beethoven's Nine: Ode to Humanity

Can a work of art remain relevant 200 years after its creation? Ludwig van Beethoven’s last completed symphony proves it’s possible.

Peter Dvorský

Shut Up and Play the Piano

The documentary follows Chilly Gonzales from his native Canada to late '90s underground Berlin, and via Paris to the world's great philharmonic halls. Diving deep into the dichotomy of Gonzales' stage persona, where self-doubt and megalomania are just two sides of the same coin.

Giacomo Puccini – Die dunkle Seite des Mondes

Conducting Mahler

Documents the interpretations of Gustav Mahler's compositions by conductors Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, and Simon Rattle, who detail the special relationship they have with Mahler's work.

Die Spezialeinheit - Im Einsatz mit der Bundespolizei

John Cage: I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It

This 56-minute documentary on America's most controversial and unique composer manages to cover a great many aspects of Cage's work and thought. His love for mushrooms, his Zen beliefs and use of the I Ching, and basic bio details are all explained intelligently and dynamically. Black Mountain, Buckminster Fuller, Rauschenberg, Duchamp are mentioned. Yoko Ono, John Rockwell, Laurie Anderson, Richard Kostelanetz make appearances. Fascinating performance sequences include Margaret Leng-Tan performing on prepared piano, Merce Cunningham and company, and performances of Credo In Us, Water Music, and Third Construction. Demystifies the man who made music from silence, from all sounds, from life.

Cutting Grass

Moritats are old folk songs about crimes and are typical of Central Europe. Zela Trovke is a moritat from Slovakia which the Holland Baroque Society has recovered to include in its Barbaric Beauty programme. Maite Larburu, the orchestra’s violinist, unveils the song's hidden secrets.

Frank Zappa: Music In Review

Idiosyncratic composer, unique musician and ground-breaking film director…..Frank Zappa packed more into his short lifetime than most men would manage in two. His restless, challenging, creative spirit meant that he never stood still during a career that bought huge critical and commercial success – Zappa sold more than 60 million albums both as a solo artist and with the Mothers of Invention. The life and work of Frank Zappa are examined in this superb new critical review, which features new in-depth interviews with industry insiders, rock journalists and respected critics plus highlights from the songs that re-drew the face of rock music.

Hello

The film tells the story of three best friends named Ako, Aki and Awang, who are well-known in their village for their mischievous and humourous pranks. The trio work for Pak Man. One day, they are assigned to pick up his daughter Misha, who has just returned from overseas and dreams of becoming a doctor. The trio have been in love with her for a long time but she does not pay them any heed. When Misha is robbed by a snatch thief one day, she is rescued by a doctor named Shafiq. Her face reminds the doctor of his late wife, and he begins to pursue her, which annoys the trio.

Lion, London Zoological Gardens

A male lion, right next to bars that are about 6 or 8 inches apart, keenly watches a uniformed zoo attendant toss small morsels of food into the cage. The lion alternates between finding the food on the cage floor and reaching through the bars to swipe at the man, who stays alarmingly close to the beast. In the background are the large rocks and brick wall at the back of the lion's habitat.

12

12, is a comic parody about an office's obsession with the television show 24 as the their obsessions kick into high gear with the shows season finale approaching. Part The Office part 24, the short film mash-up introduces a novel send-up of these pop culture staples.

Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony

30 years ago, on June 23rd, 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog was released on the SEGA Genesis, beginning a new era of gaming. Since then, Sonic has been running through countless zones, beating badniks, and saving the world with the help of his friends. This performance is to thank you, all of you, for being there every step of the way, and to remind us all of the amazing journey we've been on. Happy 30th Anniversary, Sonic!

Box

The execution was scheduled and the last meal consumed. The coolness of the poisons entering the blood system slowed the heart rate and sent him on the way to Judgement. He had paid for his crime with years on Death Row waiting for this moment and now he would pay for them again as the judgment continued..

Good Newwz

Two couples with the same surnames pursue in-vitro fertilisation and wait for their upcoming babies. Trouble ensues when they find that the sperms of each couple have been mixed with each other.

HELLO

Through a haze of smoke, coke, and booze; possible futures, pasts, and presents coalesce chaos inside the mind of a man drifting directionless through life. When your future calls, what will you have to say?

Transformer

In the summer of 2015, former US Marine and world record weightlifter Janae Marie Kroczaleski was publicly outed as being transgender. The reaction was universal: her sponsors abandoned her, she was disowned by her parents and banned from competing. This film follows Janae as she attempts to find her place in society. Initially wanting to strip off the muscle and become a much smaller looking woman, she found herself unable to lose the muscle she so desperately gained. She now finds herself living one day as an alpha male and the next day as a delicate girl. Will Janae be able to handle her muscle relapses? Will her passage from being a male bring her the peace she's looking for? Will society accept a 250lbs muscular woman? Is her path personal redemption or physical and psychological disaster?

Box

A doomsday pepper is surprised to find a mysterious box appear in his living room with no trace as to how it could've gotten there.

Box

Box is a story of two people who meet at a crossroad. Two different destinies, two different lives, face to face in a game of sweat, blood and tears. Rafael (19) is a young boxer who dreams to conquer the world; Cristina (33) is a single mother who lost her balance. Two lives; one running very close to the earth, the other trying to fly high up, too high.

Swimming in the Sea

Several little boys run along a pier, then jump into the ocean.

Osmosis

Brazilian mission commander Sam struggles with establishing a stable connection from Earth to his lover. German scientist Joy explores planet Kepler 452b at her research facility for Alchemy Plasma, a revolutionary energy source. Their long-distance relationship faces doom, when alien Dardesh invaders attack the human outpost, 1400 light years away.

12

After blowing his professional ballet career, John's only way to redeem himself is to concoct the demise of his former partner, Leah, who he blames for his downfall; he rehearses his salvation in his mind in the way that he rehearses a dance, but being able to break from the routine will be the key to his success.

Box

8mm film by Swiss artist Roman Signer.

Deep

Four insomniac med school students are lured into a neuroscience experiment that spirals out of control and must find a way out before it’s too late.

Box

A group of friends try to defeat an evil king, and meet some quirky characters along the way.

12

An old Finnish athlete travels alone through eastern Europe with his van.

As Long As We Go East

Through a journey across Europe, starting in Rennes, finishing in Saint-Petersburg, a team of young documentarists spontaneously and poetically engage with an experience of culture, languages and borders. The camera follows Tao, a blooming artist travelling by the means of her skateboard. Along the way they make insightful encounters and live unique experiences, through a variety of colours, landscapes, creative initiatives and incredible mouvements coming to sight progressively within their journey. This summer tale is an individual challenge, taking place through the lives of different encounters bringing out a single poetic line, a movement. Under the humble wheels of a skateboard hides a tribute to the old continent. Overall, questioning the individuality, the mass, and moreover, us, the European youth.